Wednesday [11 October].

Rode to Boston. Conversed with Ned Quincy and Saml.,1 Peter Chardon &c. By the Way Peter Chardon is a promising Youth. He aspires, and
will reach to a considerable Height. He has a sense of the Dignity and Importance
of his Profession, that of the Law. He has a just Contempt of the idle, incurious,
Pleasure hunting young fellows of the Town, who pretend to study Law. He scorns the
Character, and he aims at a nobler. He talks of exulting in an unlimited field of
natural, civil and common Law, talks of nerving, sharpening the mind by the Study
of Law and Mathematicks, quotes Locks Conduct of the Understanding and transcribes
Points of Law into a Common-Place Book on Locks Modell.2 This fellows Thoughts are not employed on Songs and Girls, nor his Time, on flutes,
fiddles, Concerts and Card Tables. He will make something.3

2. A self-indexing commonplace book or collection of quotations arranged under topical
headings. Locke’s explanation of his plan is in a letter to M. Toignard (The Works of John Locke. { 48 } A New Edition, Corrected, London, 1823, 3:331–349). Among CFA’s papers is such a book, partly filled up by him, with a printed titlepage and the
imprint of Cummings and Hilliard, Boston, 1821 (Adams Papers, Microfilms, Reel No. 312).